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    Your Elvenar Team

Provide a thumbnail of the battlefield on the encounter window.

Gkyr

Chef
Current situation: when one opens an encounter in the map view, the spire, or the tourney, one gets an encounter window that is essentially the same for all encounters. It has the convincing/negotiating/catering choices grouped on the left and the shady characters battle queue on the right.

My suggestion is that a thumbnail graphic of the selected battlefield be placed on the right over the shady character roster (similar to below but sharper). The portrait and banner take up a full 1/3 of the upper area of the encounter window, so there is plenty of space. I suggest that the useless portrait be eliminated but even if the personalization of messages, which is a theme throughout Elvenar, is kept, it can be made smaller. Similarly, the prizes can be grouped over the goods cost area, leaving the space above the shady characters free for the placement of the battlefield thumbnail.

To those who say that the miniaturization of graphics is already straining the eyes of older gamers, it looks as if the rewards do not have to be decreased in size to be able to be grouped over the costs - just as long as they continue to place them on a background of contrasting color. As far as the mini-battlefield goes, previewing the battlefield is a strategic advantage that everyone agrees upon, but many in a hurry to 'process the game' do not practice. Being able to see the number of obstructions or to recognize the gestalt of the limited number of gameboards being used will facilitate gameplay. Especially if it eliminates the tendency to go into a battle blind and having to preview the fields after being defeated or having to set up a mock battle, surrender, and then reset the lineup. In this case, even a small battlefield thumbnail is better than the alternatives.

Pros:
  • It is apparent that the algorithm has chosen the opposing lineup when the encounter screen comes up. I think it is a safe assumption that the battlefield has already been chosen since the two are often merged in terms of the increment in difficulty. Therefore, no major code routines are required aside from layout.
  • In most cases, it will eliminate the need to mock battle.
  • It eliminates time-consuming keystrokes that do not increase player investment in Elvenar the way that, say, building and upgrading do.
  • It is likely to decrease player 'battle fatigue', allowing gamers to advance further into the tourneys instead of using up their time rehashing a given battle either proactively or retroactively.
  • By augmenting productivity within Elvenar, it seems likely to enhance progress within the game.
  • Thumbnails of outlier battlefields, those with either abundant or virtually absent obstructions, may quickly allow a gamer to select the more advantageous of either a melee- or range-dominated lineup.
  • Will especially benefit mobile users who have no other way of reconnoitering the layout prior to committing troops.
Cons:
  • Visually challenged gamers may not like the thumbnail graphic.
  • It will require altering the encounter window.
  • It is of no use or little use to gamers who negotiate.

    Mobile view​
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Last edited:

Yogi Dave

Well-Known Member
Here we go again, and I really, really hope they do it this time or some time.
This is the thread I started back in March of '20: Method to improve troop selection for auto-fight.
It was given to the devs and June 24th Xelenia, the moderator at the time, heard back from them and posted this:
"The development team really likes your idea @Yogi Dave and has been added to their list of things we should do. As with all things (you have been around long enough :( there are no ETA of implementations :)"
It's always a good to remind the devs again and again. Somethings it takes years and much discussion to finally get implemented. Look at the changes in the FA as an example.

While it should be on both app and browser, it is more important for the app than the browser. Also, I think a very simple graphic like my thread shows may be more useful to the players, just not a pretty. Pretty can make it more difficult to see the info, but managers seem to prefer pretty over utilitarian.
 

ajqtrz

Chef - loquacious Old Dog
Yep, the idea has been around for a long, long time. Here's my post from 2019

Jun 30, 2019
"How about this: A preview of the terrain before you need to pick your troops? How many times have I picked one type and found the terrain just traps all or most of my troops where they can't be bought to bear. What general ever picked his troops without knowing the battle ground? Yes, you can pick your troops, start the battle, maybe surrender before getting hurt, and do it over, but that's just a waste of time. By letting the player see the battlefield in a small map, perhaps, before choosing the troops, you would do a lot to encourage people to actually fight. OR, maybe the map could come up and you place your troops where you want them to begin (in the last row) and the order you want to move them. You could even "fog" the locations of the ones they face so that you only know the terrain. "

Yogi's formal proposal in 2020 got 100% support with 24 to 0 voting.

Wish they would do it ASAP.
AJ
 

Gkyr

Chef
@Yogi Dave I was unaware f your previous efforts on behalf of the concept and I like the fact that you included the mobile people in the suggested improvement . I also like the fact that you got 100% support for your idea. Perhaps the second time will build momentum upon the first?
 

samidodamage

Buddy Fan Club member
@Yogi Dave
I'd really like to see this implemented, too! I remember this as one of the first ideas/suggestions accepted after they made the original path to the devs from this forum! There was never a formal path to the devs from here prior to Xelenia starting this in March '20. There was no committee from all the markets then; the only other path from a forum to the devs was on beta. Helya was great at explaining changes to us and shepherding our ideas through the current process when paths were implemented across all markets. I sure hope someone now has the time/energy/authority to be as active an advocate as she was.
 

Astram

Forum Moderator
Elvenar Team
As there are prior approved and voted upon approved and I can see no reason to make another vote on this. Just finalize your idea and let me know and I will have it forwarded on to the CM for the next meetings.
 

Gkyr

Chef
Thanks, @Astram . I think @SoggyShorts's effort in elucidating its usefulness for mobile users is particularly helpful. I amended the post to underscore this mobile utility and I think it can submitted as it now stands (I would like the selection committee to see both Soggy's and my graphics - I think they carry the idea forward, conceptually). And make any edits for clarification that you see fit.
 

Momonar

Member
Agree with all of the above. I would add that it is equally important to desktop, because a LOT of time is wasted having to scout the battlefield (by sending a squad of rangers, looking, then surrendering).
 
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